Pressing the Reset Button

Recently on my blog I’ve been doing a few more “think” pieces, which really resembles where I am in my life at the moment and a large focus of what I want my blog to be. I want it to speak those who love to talk about beauty as much as they love to talk about the personal reality of their experiences. As much as I can appreciate the thought behind an asethically pleasing and perfect planned Instagram post, I absolutely love when my favourite bloggers and YouTubers open up about real life topics in their blogs and vlogs. Whether it is a small as sharing skin issues (any other Lydia Millen-Gordon fans love it when she was rocking the sudocrem? Come on we all use it secretly! Thanks Lydia for keeping it real), or discussion surrounding bigger topics such as how the birth of a child may have changed someone’s life, these conversations bring people together.

Ironically to my blog name, I haven’t been talking on here much this April. However there are reasons when people take a break to reset, even from the things that we enjoy the most. I must admit there have already been more pauses with my blog than I like. However as someone who wears their heart on their sleeve, I can’t put my feelings on hold. When I’m sad, I will let it show but when I love, I love hard. This means that when as issue arises I give myself time to feel and work what I’m going through. Recently this has meant that I took some time out of my blog, to give myself the time to do so.

I have spoken briefly on my blog about the fact that my Grandmother’s health has been deteriorating; a troubling, frustrating, sad and unfair process to watch and difficult to talk about. It is so hard to watch someone that you love become a frail version of themselves. It has also meant multiple hospital visits but valuable quality time spent together amongst family. Something which I’ve only really appreciated since giving myself some time to reset and come to terms with it all.

Here are a few ways that I have been trying to reset:

1. Reaching out to friends

Accept the down moments but don’t do it alone or pretend you aren’t impacted by what’s going around you. Stress can manifest in different ways, mine is physically with IBS and split nails. As supportive as you can be to your own family, make sure you get the support you need to. Talk to someone about what’s going on, you may be surprised how much lighter you may feel afterwards. I confided in my boyfriend and close friends; speaking to someone outside of it all really helped. It also reminded me that life continues and you can have plenty of fun catch ups.

2. Spend less time online

When I was having some time out, that also meant not posting on social media and not checking it as regularly. It wasn’t quite a digital detox but definitely a break. This allowed me to not be distracted and have some time alone time to process my own thoughts.

3. Taking time to take care of yourself

When visiting hospitals became my new normal, I definitely felt like I needed to restore some actual normality back into my own life without feeling guilty for it. Whether it’s taking 30 minutes to have a bath, cooking some nice food, getting back into the hobbies you enjoy or visiting the cinema. Force yourself to do something fun even if you don’t feel like it. It will lift your mood and give you the refreshing moment you needed. If you’re lucky enough to take a day trip grab hold of it and do it. You will be a better person afterwards and would have regained some strength.

4. Letting go

I’ve also learned the hard way that resentment only imprisons your own mind; the issue/situation/person that you resent and wish to change, experiences no pain. As soon as you accept that, it is a freeing moment. You can let go of that personal pain and actually begin to accept what is going on.

Over the last six months, I have recently felt that as I’ve been doing these things there has been a change in the air around me. Perhaps it’s my perspective changing, some personal growth or at the risk of sounding too hipster, the energy that I have been putting out into the world has changed. I’ve really felt a zest for life and clarity that I haven’t felt before. A sense of what’s important, focus and appreciation. It’s a feeling that in the past I’ve experienced merely in waves, before snapping back to the same old routine. Yet now, rather than fighting life when times have been difficult, I have been trying to learn to be a lot more accepting and as difficult as it is. I have been understanding that there are some things I cannot control.

The overarching lesson I’ve been learning is that

Where there is darkness, there is light

Although a difficult concept to believe in during stressful times, this is an important mantra I hope to hold close in my heart. As hard as it is to talk about these personal matters, it’s good to start somewhere and sometimes you just need someone to listen. I hope that if you too find yourself needing some time to reset, you can remember that there is some positivity you can find.

I would love to hear if anyone else has experienced anything similar, what your thoughts are on taking a break to reset. What do you do to give yourself a break and what you have learned.